The present invention relates to a therapeutic seat device or, more specifically, a resilient, therapeutic seat device, intended primarily for use when training above all the muscles around and along the spinal column, but also other musculature of the body.
NO 302.853-B1 describes a seat device which allows adjustment of the postural balance of the upper part of the body so as to obtain a sitting posture that is as stress-free and anatomically correct as possible.
The present invention is an independent development of the ideas on which the aforementioned ""853 was in fact based.
The object of the invention is to provide an improved rocking seat device which in addition to a pure sitting function can also be used as an effective training apparatus for use, for example, in group training to music.
It is an object of the invention to provide a seat device having a function that enables a person in a sitting position to carry out exercise movements to musical rhythms, and at the same allows the user, whilst exercising and also in time with the music played, if any, to adjust the inherent resistance of the seat so as to be able to move his body in exact time with the musical rhythms played.
A not insignificant amount of today""s physical training takes place in groups and to music. Aerobics may be mentioned as one example, and other examples include apparatus training such as spinning.
If a seat device of this kind is to be useful for physical training which is based on rocking on an elastic seat in time with music, the seat device must have adjustment means which allow a rapid and reliable adjustment of the seat in an individual manner for each individual user, and it must also be possible to do this, at least to a certain extent, during use.
It is thus essential in a construction of this kind that the inherent resistance of the seat to tilting movements should not only be capable of being adjusted beforehand, but that it should also be equipped with an adjustment mechanism that can be operated whilst rocking takes place in time with the music.
In general, exercising whilst in a sitting position is a very safe method of exercising which allows the user himself to control the load that feels right for his back.
The method is a safe method of exercising for many people suffering from different types of disorders, but is especially favourable in cases of back injuries because it gives a less one-sided load during training. The body or spinal column is not subjected to shaking, jolts or blows, sudden twists, jumps or other forms of stress.
Furthermore, sitting, rocking exercise can be done by people of virtually any age, even by those aged 80 to 90.
Furthermore, physical training of this kind may be favourable for many accident victims, for example, after serious injuries such as foot amputations as a result of motorcycle accidents, and also patients suffering from heart disease, CP patients or the like, especially also if the seat device has grips or body rests of various types.
Gentle rocking exercise in a sitting position provides the body/spinal column with slow, gentle and generally symmetrical exercise movements. The user of a suitable seat device can determine the muscle loading by leaning more or less backwards in the seat in his seated exercise position.
It general, it can be said that persons capable of walking or driving a car to a training centre will also be capable of carrying out a strengthening exercise of this kind.
As mentioned above, this kind of rocking exercise in a sitting position is especially good for the muscles around and along the spinal column, the adductor muscles and the abdominal muscles, but basically the entire body musculature is used, especially if the arms are used in exercises with elastic bands or other elastic bend and stretch resistant mechanisms.
In this way, a good strength training of the musculature which helps to maintain the postural aspect of a good sitting posture is obtained. It is therefore not without importance that the training takes place in an upright, sitting position of use where the postural musculature and movement and circulation functions of the spinal column in a sitting position during training are taken into account.
In sitting, rocking exercise of this kind, the lumbar joints of the spinal column are made to move vertically, locking between the individual vertebrae can be mobilised and it will be possible to build up the strength of the small deep-lying supporting muscles. On the whole, the training will thus increase the stability of the individual vertebrae so that the spinal column as a whole is strengthened.
The training of the smallest and most deep-lying supporting muscles that are responsible for the stability between the individual vertebrae will help to strengthen the position of the vertebrae in relation to gravity and uneven loads, and will thus be capable of improving minor misalignments of individual vertebrae in that they are finely adjusted owing to an enhanced and more symmetrical function of the small muscles.
A strengthening of the small supporting muscles helps to relieve the larger muscle groups, which in turn helps to counteract local misalignments, dislocations or locking and this results in an improved functional spinal column, where the major muscles can relax more and merely take part in the balance of the spinal column and the body in general, and possibly help in the event of substantial muscular strains.
A training of the small deepest lying supporting muscles will also help to avoid weak individual joints which suddenly give way on unexpected loads, a so-called xe2x80x9ccrickxe2x80x9d in the back.
In addition to the aforementioned advantages, the slow, pumping movement due to rocking will also help to give a correct stimulation of tissue after a newly operated prolapsed disc in that the gentle, symmetrical, rocking, vertical exercise movements stimulate diffusion and thus absorption of nutrients in the discs and the tissue between the vertebrae.
The object of the present invention is to provide a therapeutic seat device which allows training in accordance with that outlined above, and this seat device is characterised in that it comprises:
a) a support with elements for receiving a separate seat member; and
b) a seat member comprising a seat fastened to an elongate element for elastic, resilient interaction with the support.
In one embodiment the elongate element of the seat member is elastic, and the element for receiving the elongate element of the seat member consists of two crossbars extending parallel to one another, substantially at the same height and basically at right angles to the elongate element.
In one embodiment these receiving elements may be in the form of an optionally vertically displaceable sleeve.
It is an advantage that the seat be displaceable along the elongate element of the seat member and/or that at least one of the receiving bars can be displaced vertically and/or horizontally.
The support preferably has a downwardly open U or V-shaped part wherein the aforementioned bars are fastened close to the bottom of the U or the apex of the V.
It may be an advantage that the elongate element of the seat member and/or the support be equipped with means for fixing or locking these parts relative to one another.
These means may be in the form of an elongate locking groove in the elongate element of the seat member and corresponding means on the support.
To facilitate fixing in a desired position, the elongate element of the seat member may be provided with transverse open curved recesses, preferably on the underside, for interaction with one of the transverse bars.
To allow use by persons of varying sizes, the seat device according to the invention may be equipped with several sets of receiving elements, arranged one above the other, for the elongate element of the seat member.
In one particular embodiment of the invention, the elasticity is provided, at least in the main, by a resilient element between the distal end of the support and the distal end of the elongate element of the seat member. A resilient element of this kind may be made of various materials, including steel, rubber or the like.